Category: Paints and Coatings

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our client need to replace its solvents in his coating formulation due to legislative changes. The alternative solvents have to keep the same physico-chemical properties of the formulation, or even is feasible to improve them in order to keep a competitive advantage on the market. The project deals with many technical challenges: Prediction of physico-chemicals properties on a mixture of solvent rather than on pure solvent. Take into account interaction between solvents and polymers Definition of solvent key properties in the final mixture. OUR METHODOLOGY For the research of alternative solvents mixtures, Processium has: Characterized the client products: our expertise in modelling ensures a reliable prediction of key properties for the different solvents (viscosity, evaporation rate…) Defined the specifications of the new solvent mixture (performance at least equal to…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION The objective of this study is to acquire data to design an extractive distillation process for separating light hydrocarbons. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES A key element of success in the study is the measurement of vapor-liquid equilibria at pressures of 2 to 5 bar, to determine the liquid and vapor compositions in a mixture of heavy and light components (boiling point difference > 230°C). OUR METHODOLOGY We undertook this study by: Developing efficient analytic methods, Developing a suitable experimental strategy to acquire measurements in line with customer’s project and time constraints. RESULTS The measurements were carried out successfully in our labs, and Processium was able to provide: A feedback on notable issues encountered, particularly degeneration of seals or corrosion problems Data values which allowed our customers to better understand their…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our client conducted a study of biodiesel conversion and separation in which our teams provided essential thermodynamic expertise for the design of the process. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES The objective of this study was to obtain liquid-liquid-vapour equilibria measurements for a complex mixture. This study involved: Thermodynamic measurements on viscous mixtures at high pressure Very complex sampling protocol as a result of the differences in volatility of the compounds (methanol-glycerol) and the operating conditions A complex analysis process due to the nature (vegetable oil) and the physical properties of the compounds OUR METHODOLOGY Processium successfully completed this study by using: A customized experimental strategyallowing timely data acquisition in line with client project requirements Objectivity and a wider perspectivein interpreting the obtained results to precisely understand the behaviour of client compounds.…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our client, a manufacturer of synthetic oils, wishes to determinate the vapor pressure and the boiling point of oil’s constituents in order to design and optimize their production processes. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES The challenges met in this project are the following ones: Presence of considerable number of compounds in each oil, whose properties are unknown (high cost for carrying out measurements) Difficulty of separation and purification of these synthetic oils: it is impossible to access to pure compound OUR METHODOLOGY The method of physico-chemical data prediction, specifically developed for this project, allows to free itself from properties measurement of these products. It consists in the following steps: Definition of a customized decomposition method for these synthetic oils Evaluation and sorting of available data based on the specifications. The e-thermoTM…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our client has developed a production process of organic acids by fermentation. Organic acids need to be extracted and purify from the broth using a solvent extraction technology. TECHNICAL CHALLENGES In order to satisfy client requirements for its Project, Processium had to to identify a bio-based solvent for the extraction of acids and able to preserve microbes used for fermentation. OUR METHODOLOGY The methodology developed by Processium for the successful development of the Project had been developed as follow: screening of in - house database containing more than 1,000 industrial solvents data sets, identification of additional candidate determined thanks to a specific Computer Aided Molecular Design tool, modeling of solvent properties and prediction of missing data, identification of 5 solvents and measurement of distribution coefficients, performance evaluation of solvents…

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Our customer wishes to know the solubility of a solid inorganic salt in an aqueous solution at 80 °C. The influence of pH of this solution on the solubility of the salt must be estimated. Measures are led at 3 different hydrogen potential by going from pH 4 (acidic), pH 7 (neutral) and to pH 9 (basic). TECHNICAL CHALLENGES Why do we speak about challenges? For two main reasons:The solubility of the salt in the liquid is very high. The first difficulty is to identify an analytical methodology adapted to the inorganic solid. ICP-AES had been selected as the most accurate technique for the analysis of this molecule and was successfully used. Thermogravimetry study was coupled with a specific chemical analysis to insure reliability of the supplied results because of…